Irfan Kamil, Jakarta – The II-08 Jakarta Military Tribunal has handed down prison sentences and dismissed three more rogue TNI (Indonesian military) personnel who were proven to have indulged in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) practices.
The three are Second Sergeant (Serda) FA, First Sergeant (Sertu) R and First Seaman (KLS) IF.
"The defendants are declared to have been legally proven and convincingly guilty of the crime of 'intentional disobedience'", read the court's verdict as reported on the Supreme Court website on Tuesday September 13.
"The defendants have been judged guilty and will therefore serve a basic sentence of five months in prison", read the verdict.
In their considerations, the judges stated that the three rogue TNI personnel were proven to have had same-sex relations at a mess in Cilangkap, East Jakarta. These deviant acts were said to have been committed repeatedly.
Yet, continued the judges, the three TNI members were already aware of the TNI commander's Telegram Number ST/1648/2019 dated October 22, 2019 and Navy Chief of Staff Telegram Number ST/34/2021 dated January 14, 2021, on violations by TNI personnel who commit LGBT practices.
The panel of judges was of the view that the defendants' actions in committing same-sex relations showed that the perpetrators damaged the interests of the service.
"The defendants already knew that these actions violated religious norms and the norms of morality", said the judges.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Terbukti LGBT, Pengadilan Militer Jakarta Pecat dan Penjarakan 3 Anggota TNI".]
